Aston Villa (H) 5/8/14 K.O 7:45pm

[BathSaddler]

1-0 fulltime.

Not a thrashing by any means, but Chesterfield beat this lot last week...

Not quite 'this lot'. There was no Baker, Weimann, Delph, Agbonlahor, Hutton, Richardson, Senderos or Westwood for starters.

I wasn't aware of that, RS. I'm sure there were a number of first teamers who played, but point taken.

[Happydays2122]

I think it's the weakest line up and squad I can ever remember supporting walsall which has been a long time

[Pedagogue]

Both teams were pathetic in front of goal but at least the Vile have the return of Benteke to look forward to. What do we have? That said, if Benteke doesn't do the business for them, put your money on a Villa relegation.

I think that we only tested Guzan a couple of times. Grimes and Bradshaw never threatened; Webber chased and worked hard but stuck his only chance wide when he should have hit the target, at least (it didn't actually matter as he was offside). Bakayoku showed promise but is still a long way short of the real deal, not surprisingly.

On the plus side, I liked the look of Clifford, a feisty, hard-working character and Mantom got half-an-hour in. Henry, at left-back, shows much promise and was not at all fazed by having to face N'Zogbia who cost the Vile £9.5 million.

Villa deserved their win, no doubt about it, but, for me, the biggest difference was not in the skill level but in pace and physical strength. We did look lightweight, at times.

.. oh, and finally ... it was very good of that nice Mr. Lambert to allow the game to go on. We all know how concerned he is about having the right playing surface for his precious superstars.

[SoccerHQ]

Really impressed by Clifford, main plus of the night, I know he's probably raising his game to try to win a deal but quick passing and he just had a quicker thought of what he had to do when he received the ball than most others in that midfield, certainly compared to Flanagan.

I'd give him a deal. Could be a more dynamic replacement for Featherstone and if Mantom isn't fit enough to start, I'd rather him start v Vale than Flanagan who looks a little off the pace at this level at the minute.

Aside from that it's basically all the problems that have been done to death. Bradshaw and Grimes looked o.k and lively but neither looks really like they'v got 10 + goals in them. Bakayoko potentially could be something but very raw with his decision making so not a starter for me yet.

Webber? Some nice lay offs and touches around the edge of the box but that terrible miss sums up where he is as a finisher nowadays. Please don't sign yet another striker who can link it up but dosen't have a clue how to finish Deano.

And yep the defence will concede a lot more from corners/high balls this season. You just took for grant the last few years how many Butler would just effortlessly head away from his positioning. Big weakness now, Villa should've scored three from free headers from corners tonight.

[m&m]

I also liked the look of Clifford. He should be offered a deal IMO.
I really worry about where the goals are coming from though and still have concerns about the centre of defence.Butler will be a massive loss.

I have no doubts that this current lot can play but when it comes to the hustle and bustle of L1 I think we will come up short and be out muscled. Who do you see scoring headers from corners?

I sat with a Villa mate tonight who said we looked ok but need a big bustling striker who can hold up the ball. If it's that obvious to somebody who has never seen us before why can't the manager see it?

[Magic Man Fan]

There will be more players to come, but such is the unimportance of lower league clubs to the greed league, we have to wait to see how much Deeney will go for on transfer deadline day, before Smith knows how much he can splash in wages, on a decent loan signing or two.

[Registered Saddler]

No Walsall FC does not have a bottomless pit of budget but the constant rhetoric from some on here that we are skint is inaccurate and becoming utterly tiresome.

Summer recruitment so far has been average at best. No way this team has been fully assembled yet to manage a season at this level.

I find it hard to know what to think about our finances, listen to some on here and you'd think the club is constantly on the verge of financial collapse and will instantly fold should we dare to make any sort of serious investment in new players. Listen to others and it sounds like Bonser is sitting on a mountain of gold laughing away at us all.

We have a budget that puts us, I reckon, in the bottom 8 of the division. not surprising really when our attendances are about that level. Yes, we supplement our income with high levels of commercial revenue and the odd transf fee, but that's negated by living within our means, which basically no other club does. But then again, I don't think any other club our size has only spent 1 of the last 20 seasons in the bottom division or lower. And very few clubs our size have spent more than 4 of the last 20 years in the Championship.

[OperationYesUr]

Don't want to come across too negative, who else in the boro' of Walsall got Villa soccer schools leaflets through their post? Shouldn't we be doing this to Brum?

[saddlertd]

One word: Weak! We are weak in two of the three most important areas of the pitch: Central defence and goalscoring. I cannot understand what Deano has been doing for the last 3 months. Why hasn't he got a couple of players in from bigger clubs on season-long loans? We are nailed on for relegation if we can't score and ship goals at the other end. Our tippy-tappy-crappy no shots on target football doesn't work, especially at home. We need at least 3 new players quick: a commanding centre-half, a right winger and a centre-forward who can win the ball in the air and score the odd goal. Over to you Deano.

[WFC_Rob]

The game was the traditional turgid friendly but there were positives to take from it - namely the standard of the kids we're bringing through and the performance of Billy Clifford who did look pretty handy.

They might be a lower end Premier League side, but Villa still play in the top division and I thought we matched them for football over decent spells. The difference in physicality will always play a part, but I thought we did pretty well. Certainly the likes of McGillivray (sp?) Henry, Flanagan, Benning, Kinsella, and Bakayoko didn't look any more overrun than their more experienced teammates, which I'd take as being a huge positive. In the past we've given the kids a game in pre-season and they've looked way off the pace, but I genuinely think the current crop look pretty good.

Without wanting to sound too contradictory, how badly do we need Clifford? If all we're going to do is sign him to plug a gap left by Mantom for a fortnight, it's arguably a poor use of our modest budget. If however Smith thinks he's considerably better than Flanagan and likely to challenge Mantom and Chambers for a start when everyone's fully fit, maybe he's worth a contract.

The same goes for Webber. He showed some reasonably nice touches, but is he that much better than what we already have? If we get itchy feet and sign the likes of him, God forbid the chance to sign someone genuinely really useful comes along in a few weeks' time when we've spent out budget.

Smith's got to be careful not to be too rash with the deals he offers to the trialists. As MMF has already said, Smith will have plenty more opportunities to sign players over the weeks to come, so the last thing we want is no room to manoeuvre because we splashed our limited funds in a blind panic days before the first game.

[NEWPORT SADDLERS DAD]

No Walsall FC does not have a bottomless pit of budget but the constant rhetoric from some on here that we are skint is inaccurate and becoming utterly tiresome.

Summer recruitment so far has been average at best. No way this team has been fully assembled yet to manage a season at this level.

I find it hard to know what to think about our finances, listen to some on here and you'd think the club is constantly on the verge of financial collapse and will instantly fold should we dare to make any sort of serious investment in new players. Listen to others and it sounds like Bonser is sitting on a mountain of gold laughing away at us all.

With the sale of Patterson and the Grigg cash surely this season we should be in a better position to make a fist of it but no.WHY.

[OperationYesUr]

NSD? Didn't you know there's no money available? We only owe our no.1 fan another 175billion quid.

I am disappointed.

[Twelthofapenny]

I'm saying nothing until the season starts.

[chestersaddler]

I sat with a Villa mate tonight who said we looked ok but need a big bustling striker who can hold up the ball. If it's that obvious to somebody who has never seen us before why can't the manager see it?

How can you take seriously, the opinion of someone that supports Astuon Villa :?

[Rushall Saddler]

Really impressed by Clifford, main plus of the night, I know he's probably raising his game to try to win a deal but quick passing and he just had a quicker thought of what he had to do when he received the ball than most others in that midfield, certainly compared to Flanagan.

I'd give him a deal. Could be a more dynamic replacement for Featherstone and if Mantom isn't fit enough to start, I'd rather him start v Vale than Flanagan who looks a little off the pace at this level at the minute.

Aside from that it's basically all the problems that have been done to death. Bradshaw and Grimes looked o.k and lively but neither looks really like they'v got 10 + goals in them. Bakayoko potentially could be something but very raw with his decision making so not a starter for me yet.

Webber? Some nice lay offs and touches around the edge of the box but that terrible miss sums up where he is as a finisher nowadays. Please don't sign yet another striker who can link it up but dosen't have a clue how to finish Deano.

And yep the defence will concede a lot more from corners/high balls this season. You just took for grant the last few years how many Butler would just effortlessly head away from his positioning. Big weakness now, Villa should've scored three from free headers from corners tonight.

What he said. Every word of it.

[m&m]

Unless the football league are about to change their rules about the overhead height law before Saturday we will ship loads of headed goals at the back and score none in the air up front.

That already puts us on an uphill struggle.

Maybe Deano knows something we don't?

[saddla]

Maybe Deano knows something we don't?

Perhaps that's why he's the manager and none of us are?

[Ancient Moaner]

There will be more players to come, but such is the unimportance of lower league clubs to the greed league, we have to wait to see how much Deeney will go for on transfer deadline day, before Smith knows how much he can splash in wages, on a decent loan signing or two.

But surely the footy season starts soon?
Is it not 'closing the stable door' somewhat?
We have scored ONE goal from open play in all of our 'friendlies'
We will start with an embarrassing defeat, and will probably be in the bottom four from the start.
Now, not only can we STILL not score, our defence will miss Butler more than we realise.
The team is weak, the signings have been poor at best, and a season of 'avoiding relegation' is upon us............not a lot to look forward to, and the management fret about lack of season ticket sales!

[Walsall_Casual]

Pleased with last night’s performance. We looked fresh, reasonably composed and at times quite dangerous going forward.

I thought Kinsella, Clifford and James Chambers played very well. For me Kinsella Man of the Match – the boy looks a real talent!

We desperately need a commanding centre-half, get Clifford signed up and pacey winger. Personally I don’t see another striker as a priority. Let’s give Bradshaw a go and see how he gets on.

Villa are dire.

[Wyrley_saddler]

Let's start with the negatives. Firstly, we were terrible in defence with the ball in the air. We looked rathe vulnerable from corners in the first half. We were also toothless upfront. We desperately need a proper centre half in the Butler mould. Also, a striker, hopefully Manset, as Bradshaw huffed and puffed but look ineffective.

Onto the brightside. Clifford was superb. He was my MOTM. He got forward well, had an eye for a pass, knew what he wanted to do as soon as he got the ball and got stuck in when we weren't in possession. I would offer him a deal. I can see him replacing Chambers if he can deliver performances like that on a regular basis. Flanagan looked ok, but doesn't look ready for first team football.

Kinsella played very well, especially as he was out of position.

It was not a bad performance by any means but the issues in our team seem to be glaringly obvious to everyone but our management team which is worrying. I'll reserve making a proper judgement until a few games in but early indications aren't particularly good for the season ahead.

[WFC_Rob]

I sat with a Villa mate tonight who said we looked ok but need a big bustling striker who can hold up the ball. If it's that obvious to somebody who has never seen us before why can't the manager see it?

I actually thought Bradshaw and Webber both held the ball up reasonably well when the ball was played in to their feet.

Holding the ball up isn't the problem and you certainly don't need a beast of a striker to do it. More to the point is the quality of ball we get into the box, and who we have trying to get on the end of it.

[Rushall Saddler]

I sat with a Villa mate tonight who said we looked ok but need a big bustling striker who can hold up the ball. If it's that obvious to somebody who has never seen us before why can't the manager see it?

I actually thought Bradshaw and Webber both held the ball up reasonably well when the ball was played in to their feet.

Holding the ball up isn't the problem and you certainly don't need a beast of a striker to do it. More to the point is the quality of ball we get into the box, and who we have trying to get on the end of it.

I agree. I was sat pretty much in line with Villa's 3 centre halves for the first half and Bradshaw did alright considering Clark and Baker were going through the back of him every time he challenged for the ball.

[Walsall_Casual]

I sat with a Villa mate tonight who said we looked ok but need a big bustling striker who can hold up the ball. If it's that obvious to somebody who has never seen us before why can't the manager see it?

I actually thought Bradshaw and Webber both held the ball up reasonably well when the ball was played in to their feet.

Holding the ball up isn't the problem and you certainly don't need a beast of a striker to do it. More to the point is the quality of ball we get into the box, and who we have trying to get on the end of it.

100% agree. I like the look of Bradshaw, he can deliver in that role.

It does frustrate me the constant demands for a muscle bound 20+ goal a season man. First and foremost we need a dominating centre-half, without him we will struggle. With the right mix around him Bradshaw can bag 15 goals this season, no question in my mind about that. I am confident Grimes, Cook, Sawyers, Baxendale, Clifford, Mantom and another offensive midfielder can chip in with 35-40+ between them.

We will score more this season than last.

[SWS1]

I'm saying nothing until the season starts.

Well, the season has started and we ain't done so bad, so far. Indeed, them what knows (there are a few) seem relatively optimistic that we can at least survive in this division, despite all the players we've lost.
UTS! :D